It’s that time of year…March Madness!

By Drew Covington

The most exciting time of the year for basketball fans has started, and this time around, Hampton’s rivals made it to March Madness. 

Courtesy of NCAA

The NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, commonly known as March Madness, started last Thursday. The tournament is a single-elimination playoff to determine which is the best basketball team in all of college, and includes 68 collegiate teams across the country. This time of the year is always exciting due to the volatility of the tournament and people’s own predictions and brackets. The NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament started Friday, March 20th. 

“This is personally my favorite time of the year for sure. It’s better than the NBA, it’s more entertaining than the NBA, and we get upsets. What’s not to love, man? It’s college basketball,” said Kellen Moss, a third-year journalism major with a minor in sports management from Atlanta, Georgia. 

Speaking of upsets, a large upset could be on the cards involving a school close to our Home by the Sea. The Howard Bisons defeated the UMBC Retrievers 86 to 83 to enter March Madness. Ose Okojie led the Bisons to victory with 23 points. Now the Bisons are playing #1 Michigan in the first round of the tournament. Michigan is a heavy favorite going into the game. We’ve seen in the past a 16 seed defeat a 1 seed in the first round.

“Even though they’re the fake HU, I gotta give them their props. Shout out to them. Head Coach Kenny Blakeney and one of their star players, Bryce Harris, he’s been hooping. So, shout out to them,” said Moss. 

The tournament also acts as a showcase for athletes to showcase their talent before the NBA Draft. We’ve seen players’ draft stock rise due to their performance in the tournament, such as Carsen Edwards, who was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 2019 from Purdue. There’s a plethora of teams and players to look out for. 

“You got guys like Cameron Boozer, obviously, Labaran Philon Jr. from Alabama, UConn has some studs,” said Moss.